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Informatics

The field of informatics springs from the intersection of computational disciplines related to the humanities, the arts, and the biological, health, natural, and social sciences. As the rapid development of information technology transforms the world of human pursuits, informatics offers ways to solve new problems and to examine existing problems from new perspectives.

The Informatics Program provides graduate students the opportunity to study informatics in the broadest sense. The program is interdisciplinary, involving the Graduate College, the Carver College of Medicine, and the Colleges of Engineering, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Nursing, and Public Health.

Graduate Programs

The Informatics Program offers a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in informatics, both with a health informatics subtrack and an information science subtrack. It also offers the Certificate in Informatics, with a bioinformatics and computational biology subtrack, a health informatics subtrack, and an information science subtrack.

Master of Science

The Master of Science in informatics requires a minimum of 32 s.h. of graduate credit. It is offered with subtracks in health informatics and in information science. Students working toward a Doctor of Philosophy in informatics may be granted a Master of Science upon completion of the M.S. requirements.

The required 32 s.h. includes 9 s.h. in foundations of informatics and at least 9 s.h. in disciplinary applications of informatics.

Students select an advisor from their subtrack's affiliated faculty members. In consultation with their advisors, students prepare a study plan, which is reviewed at least once a year. Students who do not already hold an M.S. from The University of Iowa may request that one be granted to them at the doctoral comprehensive exam. A final master's examination, not related to the Ph.D. comprehensive exam, may be required.

For more information about the Master of Science requirements, visit the Informatics Program web site.

Doctor of Philosophy

The Doctor of Philosophy in informatics requires a minimum of 72 s.h. of graduate credit. It is offered with subtracks in health informatics and in information science.

The required 72 s.h. includes 9 s.h. in foundations of informatics and at least 9 s.h. in disciplinary applications of informatics.

Students select an advisor from their subtrack's affiliated faculty members. In consultation with their advisors, students prepare a study plan, which is reviewed by their mentors and curricular advisory committees at least once a year. Ph.D. students must pass a comprehensive examination at or near completion of their course work requirements. The exam may be written, oral, or both, depending on the structure of the student's subtrack or the decision of the student's committee. Upon successful completion of all requirements, including the dissertation and its oral defense, students are awarded a Doctor of Philosophy.

For more information about the Doctor of Philosophy requirements, visit the Informatics Program web site.

Certificate

The Certificate in Informatics requires a minimum of 18 s.h. of graduate credit and is offered with subtracks in bioinformatics and computational biology; in health informatics; and in information science. The program is designed for students who wish to complement their graduate degree programs with knowledge of informatics.

The 18 s.h. required for the certificate includes 9 s.h. in the foundations of informatics and at least 9 s.h. in disciplinary applications of informatics. Work toward the certificate may not be substituted completely for courses or examinations required by the student's graduate degree program.

For more information about certificate requirements, visit the Informatics Program web site.

Admission

Applicants to the M.S. or Ph.D. program should apply to the degree subtrack of their choice. The subtrack programs make independent admission decisions.

Applicants to the certificate program should apply to the subtrack of their choice. They must be in good academic standing in their graduate degree programs.

Applicants must meet the admission requirements of the Graduate College; see the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College or the Graduate College section of the Catalog.